Pope To Meet With Muslim Leaders

From Breitbart:


VATICAN CITY (AP) - Catholic and Muslim representatives plan to meet in Rome in the spring to start a "historic" dialogue between the faiths after relations were soured by Pope Benedict XVI's 2006 comments about Islam and holy war, Vatican officials said.

Benedict proposed the encounter as part of his official response to an open letter sent to him and other Christian leaders in October by 138 Muslim scholars from around the world. The letter urged Christians and Muslims to develop their common ground of belief in one God.

Three representatives of the Muslim scholars will come to Rome in February or March to prepare for the meeting, the head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano this weekend.

He did not give a date for the larger meeting, except to say it would take place in the spring.

The agenda, he said, would cover three main topics: respect for the dignity of each person, interreligious dialogue based on reciprocal understanding, and instruction of tolerance among the young.

"The meeting with a delegation of some of the 138 Muslims, planned for Rome next spring, is in a certain sense historic," Tauran was quoted by L'Osservatore as saying.

Benedict angered Muslims with a speech on faith and reason in September 2006 in Germany in which he cited a medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."

The pope later said he was "deeply sorry" over the reactions to his remarks and that they did not reflect his own opinions. The Vatican has been working ever since to improve relations with moderate Islam.

Thirty-eight Muslim scholars initially wrote to Benedict soon after his 2006 speech, thanking him for his clarifications and his calls for dialogue. But the Vatican never officially responded to that initiative, and a year later the number of signatories of a new letter had swelled to 138.

In the letter, the Muslim scholars, muftis and intellectuals draw parallels between Islam and Christianity and their common focus on love for God and love for one's neighbor. They also note that such a focus is found in Judaism.

"As Muslims and in obedience to the Holy Quran, we ask Christians to come together with us on the common essentials of our two religions," the letter says. "Let this common ground be the basis of all future interfaith dialogue between us."

Noting that Christians and Muslims make up an estimated 55 percent of the world population, the scholars conclude that improving relations is the best way to bring peace to the world.

Church leaders and analysts have praised the initiative, and Benedict met with one of the 138 signatories in October, when they both attended an interfaith peace meeting in Naples.

But that meeting was somewhat soured when some Muslim participants complained in a communique that Benedict had neglected to comment publicly on the open letter, and over published comments by Tauran about the unwillingness of Muslims to critically discuss the Quran.

The Vatican No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, followed up within a month with a formal letter on behalf of Benedict to one of the 138 signatories, Jordan's Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, inviting representatives of the scholars to meet with the pope.

The prince, who is a special envoy to Jordan's King Abdullah II, responded by confirming the agenda of the meeting and saying three representatives of the scholars would travel to Rome in February or March to lay its groundwork.


The Pope is rushing in where angels fear to tread. Does he really think he is going to ensure "instruction of tolerance among the young"? How is he going to verify that this tolerance is being preached in madrassas in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia?

Muslim Loves America - Wants To Kill Americans

Yes, you read that right:

Many of the insurgents building bombs and carrying out attacks in Iraq are hate-filled teenagers. Diya Muhammad Hussein, 16, is one of them. He spoke with SPIEGEL ONLINE about his desire to kill the American occupiers -- and his dreams of emigrating to the United States.

It was on a Wednesday a few weeks ago when Diya Muhammad Hussein went out to kill Americans. It was shortly after one o'clock in the morning and the curfew had just begun in the western Iraq town of Rawah. Diya crept out of his brother's house and walked to the tree where he had hidden the explosive device three days before.

He carried the hand-made mine to a gravel road nearby and buried it. Then he put the batteries for the remote-controlled detonator into a charger he had attached to a car battery, hid and waited.

The Rest Of The Story

Sad Choices

The New York Times via Instapundit:

European Muslims, so often portrayed one-dimensionally as rioters, honor killers or terrorists, live diverse lives, most of them trying to get by and to have a good time. That is more difficult if one is both Muslim and gay.

The possible thought process: Should I hang myself and be a true Muslim or should I screw Islam and a willing brother?

Kader Balcik, a 22-year-old Turk from Hamburg, said: “For us, for Muslims, it’s extremely difficult. When you’re gay, you’re immediately cut off from the family.”

He had recently moved to Berlin not long after being cut off from his mother because he is bisexual. “A mother who wishes death for her son, what kind of mother is that?” he asked, his eyes momentarily filling with tears.

His mother's thought process: Should I accept my pervert son and reject Islamic teachings or should I be a good Muslim and wish for his end?

Some try to have it both ways (No, I don't mean that.):

Hasan, a 21-year-old Arab man, sitting at a table in the club’s quieter adjoining cafe, declined to give his last name, saying: “They would kill me. My brothers would kill me.” Asked if he meant this figuratively, he responded, “No, I mean they would kill me.”

“I’m living one life here and the other one the way they wish me to be,” Hasan said, referring to his parents. He said he still planned to marry, but when he turned 30 rather than right away, as his parents wished. “I have to have children, to do what Islam wants me to do,” he said. “I would stop with everything in the homosexual life. I would stop it.”

That's going to be one lucky gal.

The Koran Affirms Jews Right To Jerusalem

Even the Koran Affirms Jews' Rights to Jerusalem

Muslim critics of Israel often say that Jerusalem's holy sites must be transferred to Muslim control, because of the central role they play in Islamic theology. For instance, the Dome of the Rock was built on the site where Mohammed is believed to have ascended to Heaven to receive the revelation of the Koran.

However, these people seldom actually quote the Koran itself. This is probably because the Koran actually supports Jewish claims.

Here are several quotes straight from the Koran:

-Mohammed in Sura 5:21 quotes Moses telling the Jews to "enter into the holy land which Allah has assigned to you". While Mohammed later criticizes the Jews for their sins and their refusal to accept Mohammed's message, he never says that, as punishment, Allah has revoked their title to the land. Hence the title still stands, and Muslim anti-Zionists are apostates.

-A case could even be made that Israel's victory over the Arabs in the 1948 war was a judgement by Allah against the Arabs for their apostasy in opposing the Jews. This would be their just reward for transgressing Sura 2:190, which says, "Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities."

-Moreover, Sura 60:9 forbids aiding the enemies of the Muslim people. Contrast this with the Palestinians' continued support of Saddam Hussein, whose hands are red with the blood of Iranian, Kurdish, and Kuwaiti Muslims.

-The Jews' return from 19 centuries of exile is actually the fulfillment of Islamic prophecy. Sura 17:104 says that "when the promise of the Hereafter comes to pass, We [Allah] shall bring you as a crowd gathered out of various nations".

-Sura 17:4 says, "And We [Allah] gave (clear) warning to the children of Israel in the Book, that twice would they do mischief on the earth and be elated with mighty arrogance (and twice would they be punished)!" The succeeding verses tell us that the punishment referred to was banishment from the land. But "twice" means twice, not three times; hence the Jews, having been banished from the land once by the Babylonians and a second time by Rome, will never again be banished from the land. According to the Koran, Israel is an eternal nation.

-Sura 83:1 says, "Woe to those that deal in fraud"; yet Yasser Arafat & Co. reneged on his promise to guard Joseph's Tomb in Nablus after the Israeli troops withdrew.

-The Palestinians deny that there ever was a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. But Sura 17:7 records the destruction of the First Temple by Babylon and the Second Temple by Rome, and Mohammed never contests the Bible's claim that the Temples were in Jerusalem.


Not that the Koran carries any weight with me.

Storm Track Infiltration: Muslim Call to Prayer Outages Oxford

Oxford, known as the city of dreamy spires, may soon have an oratory addition to their traditional skyline. Muslim calls to prayer blasting our over the small hamlet three times a day.

This proposed addition to the traditional city by the Elders at Oxford Central Mosque is not sitting well with its inhabitants. They have already discussed the controversial idea with council chiefs and are set to submit a formal application in the New Year. They see it as a call to prayer. The residents call the prayers, to be broadcast over three large speakers, are noise pollution.

Read the rest at The Gathering Storm.

British Credit Card Chief Forced To Quit After Making Shi'ite Joke

How fucking pathetic. The guy made a freaking joke, and his colleauges were "stunned into silence." We must not offend the Muslims, no matter how many Muslims offend us by killing us.


"A director of Barclaycard has left the company in disgrace after making a joke deemed offensive to Muslims. Marc Howells, 42, who earned 200,000 pounds a year, was addressing senior executives about the credit card company's quarterly figures when he tried to make them laugh with the quip. Mr Howells said: "The results were like Muslims - some were good, some were Shi'ite."

Some outraged colleagues forced embarrassed laughs while others were stunned into silence, but Mr Howells seemed unaware of causing any offence. His pun was later reported to senior management, however, and after some discussion he left the company last month before any disciplinary process could begin.


Of course, the notion of offense turns on the idea that not all Shi'ite's are bad people. Guess what? We know it.

But, almost all fucking terrorists are Muslim, and we've just about had it. Over 10,000 Muslim terrorist attacks since 9/11, and we're not supposed to make a fucking joke?

Fuck you.

God damn it, I'm in a bad mood this morning.

Bedtime Poems From IBA Babe Of The Year

Bedtime Poems from Gina Elise of Pin-Ups For Vets.





Go over and buy Gina's calendar here. You know you want it.

Bernard Lewis turns out to be the wrong man for the job

I used to think more highly of Prof. Bernard Lewis, but now, after reading some clearer revelations about him from both Diana West and Andrew Bostom, I realize that Lewis isn't being frank, or seems to be pulling his punches when he discusses the subject of Islamofascism. He seems to think that anti-Semitism in the mideast was brought over from Europe, without even considering that European colonization of the mideast only began several centuries after Islam first showed up in the 7th century.

Nobody who wants to win the war against terror should have to take anything Lewis says at face value.

Update: here's something he told the New York Sun a year and a half ago that I find flawed:

Mr. Lewis said a great deal of material exists - from Arabs, from Persians, and from Turks - that can form the basis for democracies in the region. He quoted from a 1786 letter to the king's court in France from the French ambassador to Istanbul explaining why the Ottoman Empire was slow in making decisions. The ambassador reported that unlike in France, where the king made a decision and that was it, "here the sultan has to consult" and so it "takes time to get things done."

Let me get this straight. The king of France didn't have a council to discuss many issues with? Actually, the problem here is that Lewis is ambiguously referring to king Louis XVI, who together with his queen, Marie Antoinette, ran an absolute dictatorship that led to the French Revolution and the subsequent overthrow of the terrible twosome for their crimes against the people of France. The way in which Lewis cites this, it's as though he were implying that ALL monarchs, whether in France or other parts of Europe, were total autocrats. Not so, and many of them did have councils. Of course, even with a council, there can still be corruption, and many of these political ruling councils, both in Europe AND the middle east, were as bad as the monarchs under whom they worked. This was certainly so even for the Ottoman empire, and whether or not things worked slowly under the Turkish sultan of the time, he and they were still a bad lot. Lewis is really blowing it by looking at all these details in such a superficial way.

France: "Youths" Only Torch 372 Cars On New Year's Eve

The "Youths" are restless:


VANDALS torched 372 cars as France celebrated the New Year, down on the figure last year after a night the police described as "relatively calm".

Cars are burned fairly regularly in France and the image of vehicles in flames in poor suburbs became symbolic of riots in 2005 when angry youths set fire to thousands of cars.

There is usually an increase in the number of cars torched on New Year's Eve compared to other days of the year.

“The night was relatively calm, without notable incident, there were very few direct clashes with the security forces,” said a spokesman for the national police.

The Interior Ministry said 372 vehicles had been burned - 144 in the Paris region and 228 in the rest of France. That was down from 397 last New Year's Eve.

At the height of the 2005 riots as many as 1400 cars were attacked in overnight violence.


Boy, that is relatively calm. I'm sure glad the "youths" weren't angry.

Muslim Populations In European Cities

A disaster waiting to happen:

Marseilles - 25 percent (200,000 of 800,000)

Malmo - ~25 percent (67,000 of 270,000)

Amsterdam - 24 percent (180,000 of 750,000)

Stockholm - 20 percent (>155,000 of 771,038)

Brussels - ~20 percent (some say 33 percent)

Moscow - 16 percent-20 percent (2 million of 10-12 milllion)

London - 17 percent (1.3 million of 7.5 million)

Luton - 14.6 percent (26,963)Birmingham 14.3 percent (139,771)

The Hague - 14.2 percent ( 67,896 of 475,580)

Utrecht - 13.2 percent (38,300 of 289,000)

Rotterdam - 13 percent (80,000 of 600,000)

Copenhagen - 12.6 percent (63,000 of 500,000)

Leicester - 11 percent (>30,000 of 280,000)

Aarhus - ~10 percent

Zaan district (Netherlands) - 8.8 percent

Paris - 7.38 percent (155,000 of 2.1 million)

Antwerp- 6.7 percent (>30,000 of >450,000)

Hamburg - 6.4 percent (>110,000 of 1.73 million)

Berlin - 5.9 percent (~200,000 of 3.40 million)

Source

Muslim Cleric's Chilling Warning To The UK

From the Sun:

A FANATICAL Pakistani cleric told The Sun yesterday of his chilling dream to turn the world Muslim – by force if necessary.

Qari Hifzur Rehamn, 60, spoke openly of imposing Islamic law’s stoning and beheading on Britain – as Pakistan was rocked by unrest over the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

He warned: “We want Islamic law for all Pakistan and then the world.

“We would like to do this by preaching. But if not then we would use force.”

Rehamn, in a flowing grey beard and turban, explained Islamic, or Sharia Law as we sat surrounded by some of his 250 students.

He said: “Adulterers who are married should be buried in earth to the waist and stoned to death.

“Homosexuals must be killed – it’s the only way to stop them spreading. It should be by beheading or stoning, which the general public can do.

“Thieves should have their hands cut off. Women should remain indoors and films and pop music should be banned.”

So what does he think of Britain? The dad insisted: “The nonbelievers must be converted to Islam. Morals in your society, with women wearing revealing clothes, have gone wrong.”

The spot where enriched uranium is produced for Pakistan’s 80 to 120 nuclear warheads is behind razor wire less than five miles from where we spoke.

A dummy missile even sits in a children’s playground in Kahuta.

Only this month, doomed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto raised the spectre of al-Qaeda-linked Islamic militants seizing control of Pakistan’s nuclear warheads – and activity by radicals near Kahuta.

Despite the efforts of politicians such as her to champion democracy, the country has long been a hotbed of Islamic extremism and there is no shortage of potential martyrs.

At the Red Mosque in the heart of the capital Islamabad, Maulana Mohavya Irshad, 24, stared coldly at me. He said: “I’m ready to become a suicide bomber and lay down my life for Islam.

Democracy is wrong. Earth belongs to God and God’s law must be implemented.

“I hope Britain and the rest of the world will have Sharia Law this century. We will continue to sacrifice our lives to achieve this.”

Meanwhile, the al-Qaeda warlord accused of masterminding the death of Ms Bhutto, 54, has warned his 13,000-strong private army will fight to the death against any troops sent to seize him.

Long-bearded Baitullah Mehsud, holed up in the bandit country of South Waziristan on the Afghan border, denied being behind Bhutto’s murder last Thursday in a suicide bomb attack in Rawalpindi.

But his cousin Shehryar Mehsud, 34, told The Sun: “Baitullah and the rest of us will fight to the last man.

Our army of thousands of Muslim brothers is ready for Jihad against the infidels and against the infidel government in Pakistan.

“UK and America are the enemy number one of Islam. We have joined the Taliban troops fighting in Afghanistan and will continue Jihad until we liberate the country.”

Winds of War: Calling Off Jihad

Is this a rift in the leadership of Al Qaeda or just a disinformation campaign?

According to a news article in the New York Sun, one of Al Qaeda's senior theologians, Sayyed Imam al-Sharif, said that the attacks on 9-11 and the current jihad on the West in general, were a "catastrophe for all Muslims".

Read the rest at The Gathering Storm.

The Best Stuff from '07

My top four posts from last year:

4. D-Day Today. Presented by the modern MSM.

3. Ugliness Behind the Burqa. Commentary on the murder of Aqsa Parvez.

2. Who Is A Real Muslim? I'll be getting a fatwa soon for this.

1. The Marathon of My Life. I don't think that any government in the world has before or since dealt with a blogger in such circumstances. Therefore, as far as I know, no other blogger in history has ever written something of this nature.

Other notable posts in chronological order:

[Click here for more.]

Will anyone stand up for Saudi women?

The following is a brief opinion column from The Week magazine, my favorite news source. I thought it made a great point and made it exceedingly well in very few words.

If a foreign country sentenced a black man to be whipped 200 times for walking into a white neighborhood, said Anne Applebaum, the world would react with outrage. Europeans and Americans would rightly demand that the backward nation “be treated like apartheid-era South Africa,” and hit with severe sanctions.

But when a Saudi Arabian court recently sentenced a female rape victim to 200 lashes for “the crime” of being alone with a man in a car, the world grumbled and complained, and that was it. No sanctions, no boycotts, no mass protests.

Saudi Arabia, it’s worth remembering, is a country where “women still can’t vote, can’t drive, can’t leave the house without a male relative.” Why isn’t this an international issue? Clearly, Western nations feel comfortable condemning racism, but can’t wrap their heads around the reality that millions of women are still treated like chattel, to be whipped when they step out of line. Even Western feminists are so focused on their own complaints that they pay no attention to “the fundamental rights of women in Saudi Arabia or the Muslim world.”

Isn’t it time someone stood up?

This little article is a condensed version of a longer article by Anne Applebaum in The Washington Post. She obviously hasn't been reading the IBA, where people stand up all the time!

Woo Hoo! Happy New Year!

A slice of cheesecake to go along with your champagne.

Gina Elise of Pin-Ups For Vets.